The Golden Pheonix
by DS Brimrose
Summary: Taking place days after the fall of Beacon Academy, Yang Xiao Long awakens to nothing but death and destruction. Soon realizing that no one bothered to look for her for rescue, she falls into grand turmoil. With an arm missing and her will tearing at the seams, her new goal is survival, ready to transverse Remnant to find her friends and family as well as a place where she belongs.
1. Chapter 1

The Golden Pheonix

Chapter 1: A Flame Nearly Expunged

"W-What...happened...?" Yang's weak voice met the air as her eyes slowly came into focus. Just as she had remembered, she was in the burnt down mess hall, shattered glass, debris, and several bodies yet to be retrieved litered the ground crudely. The noxious scent of the dead caused Yang to choke upon taking a heavy breath, her eyes widening up as she tried to cover her mouth with her right hand. She used her other hand to cover her mouth, a gasping scream croaking out with the cruel realization.

Tears began to well up in her eyes as they darted around the area, finally in high alert. Yang cried out, immediately covering up her nub of an arm with her free hand. As she rose to her knees, she found that she was laying in blood stained grass, a testament to the severing of her arm caused by Adam of the White Fang. Her once confident voice coughed and cracked as she cried out for help, only to find that she had been abandoned, believed to be dead.

"N-No...this can't be it...why...WHY DID THEY LEAVE ME?!" Yang let out a violent coughing fit as her shriek snapped at the air, it too falling on def ears. Thinking carefully, she reached into her pocket to grab her communicator. It had seen better days; cracks were all over the paneling like scars, the sizzling sounds of static squeeking through the cracks in an attempt to work.

"Damn it!" Yang cursed the world, her eyes burning red as she dropped her phone to the ground before proceeding to mash it with a furious punch. A shaky sigh left her quivering lips, removing a ration from her breast pocket to chew upon to help her nerves. Removing it, that's when her eyes finally caught sight of her missing appendage that layed several feet away. For the next ten or so minutes, she stared in disbelief at her arm that was discarded to the ground, her hand still balled into a fist.

"I was left for dead, I now only have one arm AND my communicator has been trashed...I just hope Ruby and the rest are alright..." Yang thought, crawling over to her gradually degrading limb. She took the time to forcefully unequip her weapon from it, now emptying all of her pockets to see what she was working with. Clattering to the ground was her ammunition for Ember Celica, extra rations, a pocket mirror, keys to her bike back home, a decent amount of credits and several photos of herself and the rest of team RWBY. Shifting it all around, she kept finding herself using her useless stump of a right arm, growling and switching over to her left to rectify the mistake.

"That's going to take some getting used to..." Yang shrugged in defeat, the sudden sound of animalistic feet patterning to the ground immediately putting her on high alert. Still on her knees, she quickly stuffed everything back into her pockets, nearly toppling over as she rose to her feet. Yang let out a ghastly growl of agony, her muscles and joints feeling as if they were scraping metal. The moment she could finally stand upright, she knew that she wouldn't make it out alive if she were to be surrounded. She limped and wobbled to a stone pillar that still stood within the destroyed confines of the mess hall, the sight of multiple Grimm coming into view.

"Jeeze...its a wonder how I hadn't been Grimm food yet," Yang thought, watching as they began to feast on the deceased in the area, her dead arm included. Her stomach began churn as the realism of the event finally hit her like a gut shot. She had to quickly clench up her stomach as hard as she could to keep its contents full, trying to find an opening to try and get away. Patiently she waited, slowly edging towards the dorms in hopes that they weren't completely infested. Upon growing closer, thats when she was presented to the awesome sight. The giant bird from the night of the downfall had been frozen, the whole building sharing the same fate.

"I guess that means I have to leave without preparing instead...great..." Yang hung her head in defeat, a growling sound sneaking up behind her. The stress of everything began to build up inside of her like a bonfire, the anger from being left alone to die fueling an urge to survive as well as the urge to simply destroy. The Grimm beast from behind her leapt to attack. Yang's eyes flashed red, quickly turning and slamming her fist into its skull as hard as possible, firing off a blast with it. The beast flew through the air, it's carcass dragging through the dirty. Immediately, all of the Grimm latched their eyes onto Yang, who was displaying an aura of fearlessness, as if to defy the order of life and death itself.

"I WILL NOT DIE HERE!" Yang screamed in a glorious battlecry, turning her body to try and use her gauntlet fire for propulsion. Instead of straight, it threw her body in a completely random direction, Yang's heightened awareness kicking in to compensate for the folly. She grabbed a hold of a wall support rod sticking out from destroyed brick, swinging on it to change her direction, ripping it free in the process. With a brilliant spin, she blindsided one of the Grimm, impaling the steel rod directly into its forehead. Immediately Yang blast off of the Grimm to escape a charge from another, dragging her hand along the ground to steadily land.

"This is so frustrating with one arm!" Yang cursed the air, charging on her legs and hand to maintain a center balance before blasting forward again. This time she planted her feet on the face of a boar-like Grimm, using it as a spring board to launch upward with a blast. Her eyes were like a demon's, glowing with a menacing shade of crimson as she came back down, striking with a vicious slam of her fist to which completely dug through its entire body before dissipating. Before she had a chance to recover another boar type rammed her in the back, causing Yang to let out a sudden ghastly grunt. Steam could be seen dancing off of Yang, her fist clenched hard as stone as blood began to drip from it.

"I'm not done yet!" Yang said with a desperate wheeze, turning back to see the boar charging. As it came within range, Yang growled out, pushing her strength to the limit as she snatched it up by its tusk, spinning in a circle before smashing it into a piliar to which crumbled to the ground. The Grimm let out a horrified squeel as Yang proceeded to spin once more, slamming its body into the stone path which broke it to pieces upon impact. Yang's chest began to heave at a rapid pace, her angers and frustrations slowly pushing her body past its limits. Upon the gruesome sight of the boar being smashed, the rest of the small Grimm began to slowly encroach on Yang, whose eyes began to flicker between their natural violet shade and their enraged crimson, her legs now wobbling like rubber.

"I guess...we're going...into overtime...damn it...I hate endurance matches..." Yang forced a grin, closing one of her eyes in pain as she began to focus, taking heavy, shaky breaths as they came within striking range. Letting out a loud, winded cry she charged up her gauntlet until it was smoking, immediate releasing all of its remaining ammunition in one burst. It was like a fireball as Yang flew forward, quickly bashing each Grimm with the forces of hell behind her fist. Yang's body finally gave out half way through the attack, sliding along the ground into a roll that was eventually stopped by another crumbling wall upon touching ground. In her wake, all of the Grimm were now gone, a blazing trail of soot trailing along the ground.

"Finally...I think that's all of the...whoooa...what's happeniby...to me...?" Yang's eyes began to flutter open and closed, turning to see the horrifying sight of her stubbed arm. The over exertion from combat busted its seal, blood now beginning to lightly poor from the break.

"No...I can't let it end like this..." Yang began to sob, quickly remembering that her gauntlet was blazing hot. With no other options, she took a chunk of the collar of her jacket in between her teeth. Mustering up what strength she had left, she moved the smelting cover her gaunntlet to the wound. Clenching her eyes tightly, a muffled, blood curdling scream escaped her teeth as she pressed it to the wound, quickly sealing up the wound to stop bleeding.

She quickly moved her arm, her strength unable to hold up her arm any longer. The metal scraping of the gauntlet hitting the ground filled the area as Yang felt her conciousnes waver in and out, her will to stay awake weakening more and more by the second.

"I guess it can't hurt to rest my eyes...things can't get much worse..." Yang thought to herself, her strength finally leaving her for now. She immediately fell into a deep slumber, her body beginning to freeze from the immense loss of her blood.

* * *

"Burrrr..." Yang stuttered, wrapping her arm across her trembling frame. Yang suddenly found herself in the midst of a snow storm; the visibility was awful, the amount pouring down quickly covered her body. The deathly snow came up to just above her shins, the crunching of her boots being the only clue that she was truly in transit to God knows where.

She clenched her eyes shut, wrapping her arm as tightly over herself as she could. Suddenly, a light could be seen through the hellish storm. She soon noticed the dim glow of. Light peeking through the storm, quickly becoming a glowing beacon of hope that drove Yang to push through the cold. Her skin was beginning to tinge blue from the ruthless frost pelting her, her eyes lighting up as the light led to a familiar sight.

"No way...I'm home?" Yang's weak voice filled with a spec of hope. She rubbed her eyes before putting her familiar sight back into focus; indeed, it was her home. Yang cheered with what energy she had, trembling and shaking from the cold until she reached the door.

"Hey guys! I'm home!" Yang said with a smile, giving the door a modest knock upon it. Standing in the snow, she waited for the better half of five minutes, taping her foot impatiently as she stared at the wooden gate. Slowly she walked up to the door to put her ear to the door to hear in, to which she was rewarded with words within.

"Hmm...maybe I didn't knock hard enough..." Yang thought, this time banging on the door with the bottom of her fist.

"Come on guys! This isn't fuuny!" Yang's now raspy voice coughed loudly, the cold beginning to constrict her throat. Again, she heard voices but no one paid any mind to the door. Yang growled furiously, tredging over to the window to take a peek inside. Sure enough, Ruby and and her father, Taiyang were sitting in the main room, both with what appeared to be hot choco in their hands. Yang practically placed her face to the glass as the two interacted inside, her tired eyes growing infuriated as her pleas went unheard.

"How's the choco dad? I added extra, EXTRA marshmallows this time!" Ruby said cheerfully, Taiyang returning the proclamation with a grin, taking a sip of it.

"You always make the best hot choco, marshmallows or not. So of course it's good," Taiyang replied, chuckling as he moved over to sit next to Ruby, wrapping his arm around her in a partial hug.

"More important than that, you're home safe. I was so worried that I'd never see you again." Taiyang commented. Tears began swelling up in Yang's eyes, now trying to shout that she was just outside the window but no words would come.

"Of course I'm fine, uncle Qrow saved me. Hmm..." Ruby paused, as if to suddenly think hard about something. Tears began to cascade down Yang's pale, cold face, weakly knocking on the glass and only hitting air.

"What is it Ruby?" Taiyang asked, Ruby's thinking coming to a sudden conclusion.

"It's nothing, there's no way anyone would still be alive at Beacon," Yang's heart stopped as Ruby's words tore into her. The Ruby she knew would never give up on a search to find someone, yet here she was, paying no mind as to if her mortality had been tested poor not.

"Hey now, remember what I told ya," Taiyang said in response, Ruby rolling her eyes with a vague smile.

"No more talk about Beacon, I know, I know," Ruby replied. At this point Yang had fallen to her knees, sobbing and chocking uncontrollably as she began to freeze in the snow.

"They...they didn't even bother looking for me...? I...damn it...I'm not even worth looking for, is that it dad?! Ruby?! I'm just not worth looking for RIGHT!?" Yang screamed into the night, her face drenched with tears as she punch the ground repetitively out of malice for her loved ones. After a minute, the cold became to much to bear. Yang curled up into a ball, shivering and shaking with her tears refusing to cease.

Thinking of her impending doom, suddenly, the snow was no longer freezing, in fact, it began to melt nearly instantaneously. Descending before her was a small yellow bird whose wings appeared to be flames. Landing in front of her, she stared at the creature that began yo warm her. Yang's tears remained on her face as she reached out for the bird, it's presence fading away.

* * *

Pain rattled all throughout Yang's body as she slowly began to stir awake. Cascades of tear were still apparent on her cheeks, her eyes slowly opened, the blurry world coming into focus once again. Just as before, she found herself amongst the ruins of Beacon academy. Coming to, she realized that she had blanketed by something. With a look of surprise, Yang found it to be her jacket she wore whenever she would ride around on her motorcycle. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that her wounds had been tended to with a smoked out camp fire no longer able to send out heat right in front of her.

"What the...what happened...?" Yang said, her voice soft yet scratchy as residue of dead Grimm circled all around her, as if they had hit a forcefield and died. A little chilled by the surrounding air, she slipped on her jacket, struggling a bit to sleeve her right arm. Her eyes suddenly caught sight of a figure standing a top of a still standing pillar, black and crimson covering them. However, with the blink of an eye, they were gone, leaving Yang perplexed for a few mere moments.

"I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth," she shrugged, feeling around in her pocket to find rations and accidentally kicking over closed bottles of water she hadn't noticed. Stopping to reflect on the moment, she put out a worn out, tested smile before completely standing up.

"This as good as I'm going to get for now. I guess I should probably get the heck out of here," Yang said, pocketing all of her supplies before turning her sights towards a destination unknown.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Path of a Huntress

Leaving the wretched remains of where her fondest memories lied, Yang moved forward, trying to remember the lay of the land in which she had been living for over a year. With every step she tried to remember the rest of that horrible night, hopefully coming to some kind of logical clue on what to do next. The more and more she thought about it, her right arm began to throb with sharp pains that trailed all the way to her shoulder. A hiss escaped from behind her teeth, the pain beginning to sting more and more with every step. Eventually Yang had to stop, holding it tightly to try and stabilize her thoughts.

"OK, that was a really bad idea..." Yang sighed and planted her rear upon the ground, removing one of the bottles of water to take a swig. To her surprise, even with the sun slowly setting, the air was still slightly searing in temperature, which caused for some very uncomfortable itching. Recapping the bottle after a very refreshing partaking, her eyes shifted around her area, looking out for Grimm but finding something a pinch more pleasant.

"Huh...well this is a familiar sight," Yang's exclamation was rather dull due to her pains but before her was the Emerald Forest. It felt like it was so long ago when Team RWBY was established because of their test in these very woods. She peered over to her left, smiling at the sight of the line of launch pads that forced them all into the test. Seeing that one hadn't been sprung yet, she sported a smirk as she reached into her coat, removing her aviator sunglasses and sliding them on, just like she did on her very first launch.

"Ah what the heck. It'll close the gap to the end of the forest," Yang said, stepping up onto it. Getting into a comfortable launch position, she gave the back of it a firm stomp. The sound of the launch pad echoed with a loud creak, Yang shouting gleefully as she was suddenly thrown into the air. Turning from her hip, her eyes turned the sky.

The clouds above seemed so carefree; floating about with nothing to stop them. No wars, no death or destruction and no drama, just perfect freedom to rule the skies. Yang sighed contently as the wind rushed around her, making it feel as if she were truly flying if not for at least a few seconds. However, as the clouds began to grow further and further away, she put on her game face, turning back around and finding the trees no more than 30 feet beneath her. Rapid sparks from Ember Celica shined like firecrackers as she used the force to jet forward.

"Let's hope I don't screw this up..." Yang said to herself, remembering that's she only had a single arm to handle the fall. The vibrant scent of the forestry filled her nostrils as she fired several times forward to slow her momentum as she barreled towards the trees before her. Instincts kicking in, she hooked her hand around on of the sturdier branches, flinging her body like a trapeze artist to another branch, this time the limb snapping. Yang hit the ground with a light thump, most of her speed stunted to make for a mildly painful landing.

"Heh...not too bad if I do say so myself," Yang stated in a daze, slowly moving up to her feet. She immediately patted herself down trying to brush the dirt back to where it belonged. Quickly snapping her eyes to the terrain she found that something was off. Although she came to a noisy landing, there wasn't a single Grimm in sight. On high alert, Yang proceeded into the lush and terrifying forest, ready to assault anything that may appear before her.

"Something is wrong, it shouldn't be this quiet," Yang said quietly, trying not to step on stray branches that all laid before her. Eyes shifting side to side, muscles tense like a coiled snake, Yang moved onward, ready to strike at any moment. Suddenly, she flinched as the sudden cries of what seemed to be a young girl pierced the air, completely taking her by surprise. Her head snapped to what she thought was the direction of the distressing wail.

"There's people in the forest?!" Yang thought; initially being taught that settlements in this area would be easily over run before they could even gain leeway. Charging at top speed, Yang listened closely to try and pin point the distress signal. The noise grew in volume with every step that sped along the ground, the source finally coming into view. Before her was a young girl of no more than 9 years of age. Her knees were knocking against one another, tears cascading her face as a terrible cry continued coming from her quivering lips. To her side's were two fallen men, each with a weapon laying to their sides as well as a hefty sized bag that lay behind her with an Ursa now encroaching forward towards her.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Yang let out an unnerving shout, hurtling over the girl to ram her fist into the dead center of its chest, causing the beast to stagger backward. The girl continued to cry, the madness of the situation being far too much for her small, innocent heart to handle. Yang slowly stepped back, putting her arm out in front of the little girl like a wall of safety.

"Stay behind and stick close to me alright? I'll protect you," her assuring words caused the young girl's relentless crying to come to a soft sobbing, nodding at Yang as she turned her attention back to the Ursa. It let out an earth shaking roar, the young girl flinching and cowering as she moved right behind Yang, who was staring it down with vicious eyes. The Ursa lunged forward, Yang took a strong step forward, her explosive fist igniting into its gut. Blow after blow wore the Ursa down onto all fours. An explosive shout was followed by a devastating downward strike into the back of the Ursa's head, causing it to immediately go limp, vanishing shortly after.

"Whew, that was a close one huh?" Yang said, smiling at the fearful child. Tears still lightly trickling down her cheeks. The girl wasn't sure what to feel as Yang approached her; sure she saved her, but whose to say she wasn't dangerous as well? The fact that Yang was missing didnt help things either. These thoughts whizzed through the little girl's mind but we're halted as Yang knelt down to hug her softly.

"It's OK...it's OK...you're safe now," Yang's quiet voice managed to calm the girl down to an even lighter sob, her arms grasping onto Yang tightly with her trembling hands. Yang held her close, a troubled expression on her face as she gazed up into sky changing from day to night. Yang sighed as yet again nothing was happening in her favor. She slid her aviator's off of her nose, sliding them into her inside jacket pocket before rising to her feet.

"I know it's hard, but we have to leave them here for now. So, can you show me the way back to your home?" Yang inquired, the young girl shaking her head nervously. Yang clenched her teeth in frustration, immediately holding her hand out to the young girl.

"Here, take my hand. Don't let go of it no matter what OK? Not til I say so," Yang's comforting gestures and words finally freed the young girl from her unease. She gave Yang a small nod, grasping a hold of her hand, this time without hesitation. Yang couldn't help but to shoot her a wide smile, her heart finally hitting a warm beat.

Carefully, the two began to transverse the forest. Sticking to visually obscured areas and carefully sneaking past Grimm that were in slumber made for a smooth trek. It wasn't until night completely fell that they actually stopped, making a good distance towards what Yang believed to be the edge of the forest. Finding a small cave, Yang gave it a quick inspection, finding it completely much to her delight. The child relieved Yang's hand of her death grasp, smiling up at Yang.

"What's your name lady?" The young girl inquired, Yang moving up to the rock wall to plop into a sit.

"I'm Yang, how about you?" Yang replied with a smile. The young girl lightly blushed, to shy to look into Yang's as she mustered up some courage to speak.

"M-My name is Dahlia, like the flower," she said. Yang rose to her feet, immediately realizing that a fire was in order to be made.

"That's a little strange, but I like it. So, Dahlia, just what in the heck were you and those men doing out here in Emerald Forest? Everyone knows that this place is always crawling with Grimm," Yang began feeling around for dry planks and branches from trees, luckily finding an abundance of it right in front of her.

"My village is in desperate need of herbs and medicine. Normally mommy would do it but she is sick. I'm the only other person in town who knows what to look for," Dahlia replied, looping her arms around her legs to form into a small ball.

"It's still insanely dangerous either way. Doesn't anyone grow those kinds of things?" Yang replied, dropping an arm full of brush and sticks to the ground. Dahlia simply sat there, quiet. It was if she had frozen in place from a spell seemingly casted, which gave her a sign to relax and speak softer.

"I'm sorry if I got a little ahead of myself, I'm sure your still scared from either. Stand back, I'll light the fire," Yang insisted, Dahlia quickly jumping to her feet and away from the brush. Clambering a round into Ember Celica, she carefully shot at the base of the kindle, a small flame igniting. She caught a hold of Dahlia's eyes, which were eyeing her lack of an arm intently.

"Why do you only have one arm?" Dahlia inquired curiously, Yang planting her rear on the other side of the small fire.

"A couple of reasons actually, the main reason why is because I became reckless during a situation involving my friend Blake. I thought she was going to be killed so I sprung into action. Sadly this is all I have to show for it, but I'm pretty sure Blake made it out OK," Yang said with a faint smile, her weary eyes looking over her nub.

"Wait...are you a huntress?" Dahlia's question caught Yang's attention, that strange mixture of pride and regret swirling together.

"I am actually, or rather, I was training to be one anyway. I think I'm pretty good at it," Yang replied, the girl's eyes lighting up with wonder.

"Wow! That's so cool! Do you have any stories that aren't so...um...bad?" Dahlia asked, Yang letting out a soft chuckle as she turned her eyes to the rising moon.

"I have a few I guess. I took my first step in becoming a huntress in these very woods in fact," Yang replied. For next 10 minutes or so, Yang regailed her with the many adventures of Team RWBY, all the way to the present. Dahlia was constantly at the edge of her seat, the stories exciting her beyond regular comprehension. Afterwards Yang stood up and stretched, walking over to Dahlia and handed her the biker jacket.

"It's getting late. Go sleep in the small cave and use my coat for a blanket, I'll be standing watch to make sure we get through the night," Yang urged the girl on, putting her at ease seeing that she knew now that Yamg was very capable.

"Mommy is also a huntress...you sound a lot like her. I'm so glad that you're here," Dahlia said with a smile, waddling into the small cave and wrapping up in Yang's coat.

"And that is what being a huntress is all about," Yang said to herself with a chuckle. Saving Dahlia was a firm reminder of why she wanted to be a huntress. Sure it was fun combating monsters and all, but it was protecting people that really gave it meaning.

Looking to the golden moon the shined overhead, Yang began to find herself lost in thought. What truly happened that night after she had passed out? Was the rest of Team RWBY alive or dead? Was there a point to living on after believing to be left for dead? It was questions such as these that accompanied Yang throughout the night.

"I can get Dahlia home, but...what do I do after that?" Yang asked herself with a stressful sigh, her back now leaning against the rockwall as she stared out into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

(Author's Note: I'm sooooooo sorry for being gone for so long! I had a lot of stuff to take care of and I'm a horrible procrastinator. I wanted to let you guys know I'm back and that updates will be more regular now!)

Chapter 3: The Botanical Village and the Grim Claw

"Um...Yang?" Dahlia called, looking up at the napping huntress, her arm hanging free. Dahlia decided to give it a small yank, Yang only barely stirring. Annoyed, Dahlia thought for a moment, remembering that water was always a sure fire way to awaken someone. She found a small, half empty container within the inside pocket of Yang's coat. Unscrewing it, she jumped up to splash it on Yang's face, which immediately shot her awake. She began to look around desperately, wondering how long she had been out. Looking down, she saw Dahlia hiding her face behind the bottle as if scared for her life.

"Oh, hey Dahlia. Good morning..." Yang snapped back to normal, her face sporting a grumpy expression as Dahlia put the bottle back.

"I-I'm sorry! I wasn't sure how else to wake you up," Dahlia said, Yang letting out a small laugh before taking her biker jacket from Dahlia and throwing it on.

"Well mission accomplished haha. Alright let's find your village. We should be able to find it if we follow the stone here right?" Yang asked, Dahlia giving her an uncertain nod. The traveling path was surprisingly pleasant. Had they been none the wiser it would've felt like a grand place to stop and have a picnic. As 10 minutes passed, an elderly voice could be heard shouting and grunting as if being restrained. While Yang went into battle mode, Dahlia simply sighed, shaking her head before walking calmly forward. As they came to the edge of the forest, quite a sight awaited them. It was a woman no younger than 70 being held back by two young men who were actually straining to stop her.

"Let me go! I have to save my daughter!" The lady yelled, the gentleman tightening their grasp.

"Dahlia is probably fine Ms. Snapdragon! She has Claude and Herdtz with her!" One of the men shouted.

"Probably fine my ass! Let me go!" She spat, Dahlia immediately charging her at full speed. Yang took after her, unsure of wether this was a sort of trap or something.

"Mommy!" Dahlia cried out, the guards noticing and letting the woman go. Yang couldn't help but to feel a strong sense of accomplishment, a warm smile laying upon her face. The mom began crying moving to her frail knees to hold her tightly.

"I-I'm sorry I forgot the bag of herbs..." Dahlia sniffled, the woman petting her head gently. Yang quickly noticed that the woman indeed was over 70, which begs the question how the heck she could be her daughter. Skeptical at first, she the noticed a weapon latched to the woman's waist, which told Yang that it was indeed her mother. Approaching the group of individuals, the woman looked past her daughter to see Yang, approaching with a smile. The woman let go of her daughter, patting her head before moving to Yang. She went to wave, but the woman instead wrapped her arms around her, immediately sobbing and resting her head upon her shoulder.

"Bless you young lady...bless you. I-I wouldn't know what do if I had to bury my own child..." She cried, Yang sighing and rubbing her back with her hand.

"You're welcome, it's all in a day's work," Yang said as the woman released her. The there was a bit of commotion as they returned to the village. The citizens all seemed very relieved for Dahlia's return while others mourned for the loss of their comrades. Yang finally found her mind at rest for a moment, the plentiful amounts of flowers, greenery, and seemingly happy people was a wonderful change of pace. She smelt around as she followed Dahlia and her mother, all of them swirling together in a soothing, airborne spell of relaxation. The same was the same as Yang entered her home, everything just as beautiful as the rest of the village.

"What's your name young lady?" The lady asked, Yang deciding to lean against the wall with her hand in her pocket.

"I'm Yang, I'm a huntress," Yang replied, her voice full of confidence and strife as it once was. The woman gave her a nod, removing her weapon and placing it onto the weapon. It seemed to be two kama blades connected by a chain that seemed to have a light, hazy glow.

"So uncomfortable sitting with this thing attached. My name is Lily Snapdragon, and I too am a huntress, well, used to be. Now I'm a self proclaimed one in my old age. Heh, I can see that look of confusion you're trying to hide. You're wondering about my age and having a child aren't you?" Lily asked, Yang immediately feeling a bit guilty and rude as she scratched behind her head nervously.

"I mean, it is a little strange to be your age and have such a young daughter, who is awesome by the way," Yang said, giving Dahlia wink before turning her gaze back to Lily. Dahlia giggled as Lily put on a small smile.

"Its my semblance dear, that's what does it. You see...the Snapdragon blood line has a rather foreboding past. I was unfortunately never told the full story behind it, but what I do know it is somewhat magical. My semblance allows me to snuff a grimm's existence by merely touching it, it is called Grim Claw. For every grimm I destroy, I lose time off of my life equal to how long the grimm had been alive. It is the God's blessing and the devil's curse...with my past agility and speed, I could wipe out entire grimm colonies, but at the cost of many years off my life. I had Dahlia 10 years ago while I was 24, now I sit here before you nearing my mid 70's," Lily's story completely shocked Yang to her core; she covered her mouth in complete horror, her eyes full of the sight of unfair sorrow. This only lasted a few minutes before Yang pulled it together.

"That's awful! Why did you go into service to destroy grimm if you knew that?" Yang replied, Lilly laughing softly as she wrapped her arm around Dahlia, who was standing at her side.

"I wasn't part of any service dear, I just have a heart that refuses to watch others suffer and die. If I can sacrifice my life to save hundreds, maybe thousands of people, I would do it. I feel awful that my burning hatred of grimm made this happen to me, but I wouldn't change a thing. I've spent the last few years here, leaving in peace with my bundle of joy and loving husband and that is all I could ever ask for. What are some years off my life if I can be with them here and now with no dangers on the horizon," she replied. Almost if on cue, the front door quickly flung open, a handsome young man now standing in it. He then immediately ran over to Lily, his face full of frustration.

"Did you seriously try to go out into the woods?!" He barked, Lily rolling her eyes in response.

"It was to find our child, otherwise I wouldn't want to lose a few more years off my life," she tapped back, the young man sighing before smiling and kissing her affectionately on the lips. Yang raised an eyebrow as it played out, the sight not exactly tickling her taste in romance. The young man then slowly backed away, turning to Yang who gave him a respectful wave. The man slowly stepped over, slowly pulling her into hug just as Lily had. Yang's eyebrow stayed raised as she hugged back, looking at Dahlia.

"Is everyone in this village so...touchy feely?" Yang kind of laughed, the young man letting go.

"Nope, just our family. I'm sorry if it's making uncomfortable," Dahlia replied, the young man shaking her hand. Yang let out a pfft and waved the thought of uncomfortable away.

"My apologies, I'm always worried about Lily and Dahlia to the point of being ill. Please, if you need anything, provisions, water, hunting or camping utilities, please, just tell me. I'll take care of everything in exchange for you taking care of my family," he said. Yang felt all the reactions were way over the top, but she knew what a family really was, especially to herself.

"I'd normally feel guilty taking any kinds of hospitality like this, but I'll take you up on that so I'm not being rude...besides, ever since I lost my arm it's been a bit difficult to try and gather supplies, so I REALLY appreciate your hospitality.," Yang replied, bowing respectful.

"If I may ask, how did you lose your arm? Clearly you're strong enough to handle Ursa with just one so I can't imagine too many things being able to take your arm," her husband inquired, Yang holding the remainder of her arm, turning her eyes to the window.

"I...lost it during the downfall of Beacon Academy...I lost it trying to protect someone very dear to me. I'm sure she was able to escape...but when I awoke 2 days ago, Beacon had been completely deserted with only myself remaining...it seemed that no one tried to search for me nor did anyone fight to save me. I'd been left for dead! I can't believe they just left me without even looking!" Yang shouted angrily, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes as she reached the end. Yang's eyes widened as Dahlia began to shake, hiding behind her father.

"Oh no...I so sorry Dahlia, I didn't mean to lash out...its just...a wound that hasn't quite healed yet...please excuse me, I think I'm going to take a walk," Yang sighed, walking shamefully out the door. Lily sighed, elbowing her husband in the gut quite hard, causing him to groan in pain.

"Never ask a woman about her scars or anything of the sort. You should've noticed that the arm was lost recently, she still had it bandaged for Christ's sake," Lily scolded, Dahlia looking sad before heading for the door to find Yang. He sighed, rubbing Lily's back as she began to cough.

"You know, you should really tell Dahlia about how the Grim Claw is passed down to the offspring after the parent dies...with your cough like it is you may not have much more of a chance," her husband said, planting a small kiss a top her head.

"I will when I feel the time is right. Honey, could you please make me some tea to help with my cough?" Lily asked politely, letting out a hefty sigh and leaning back in her chair.

"Anything for you my love," he replied, immediately heading for the kitchen. Lily picked up a photo frame off a desk behind her, admiring the image of herself holding Dahlia after she was born. A small tear crept down her cheek as she gave it a small kiss before returning it to its former position.

Yang put her hand into her pocket as she began to wonder around the peaceful village. There were street vendors here and there selling goods and food with a few shops for weapons and clothing; it was small, but very quaint. One thing that caught her attention was a tinker, who was working on a complexed looking weapon. Curiously, she walked up to his vending station, giving one of the wooden pillars holding up the store's roof a little knock. Turning around, Yang noticed it to be a faunus, who lifted up a pair of safety goggles.

"Hello there! What's your business with me?" The faunus asked, his amphibious eyes looking her over. As half rude as his words were, he asked in the kindest way possible. Yang laid her elbow on the table, raising her ember celica up.

"I wanted to see if you could improve the firepower on this," Yang said kindly, the faunus looking over it with jerky motions. Yang unballed her fist so that the tinker could remove it with ease. Laying it on the table, he began to analyze it in great detail, finding all he needed to see in a short time.

"You're lucky you brought it over here when you did, your chamber viscosity has built up to the point that it would jam or even backfire. As for increasing the fire power...hm..." The faunus diagnosed, removing each of Yang's ammunition rounds.

"These rounds are very snug in the firing belt, you would have to replace it completely with an increased weighted/sized belt. It also needs a tune up as well as a reworking to accommodate for the increased recoil you may feel," the faunus's attention to details astounded Yang; it had been some time since someone could completely understand the workings of it.

"So can it be done?" Yang cut the point, his eyes looking her over.

"The weight and cylindrical guard would both be raised by at least 5 pounds each...are you sure you can handle that much force being off balanced with only a single arm?" He asked. That was a detail that Yang hadn't thought about; if she were to increase the weight, she could topple over if she became careless.

"Nothing I can't adapt to, I'm much stronger than I look. So, what's the cost?" Yang asked. The faunus sat still, thinking intently as he continued looking it over.

"Let's see...increased materials of the same metal, a completely new firing belt that fits your compact model of your weapon then there's the ammunition...that will roughly amount to 18000 lien ($120), however, you are the town hero for bringing home our precious Dahlia back, so...I can do 16000 lien ($106.67) but no lower," the thinkers prices were surprisingly low considering the maintenance and installations, however, 16000 lien was a rather large amount considering her situation.

"That's a fantastic price! Anywhere else would be much more expensive," Yang commented, trying to think of someway to come up with that kind of money.

"Well it helps when I already have everything I need to upgrade it, the maintenance time could take a few days however. Is that a problem?" The tinker must be a true professional to get something done so hastily.

"A few days sounds excellent! I have about 10000 lien on me to spare, but the Snapdragons said they'd cover most of my provisions in town. Is that acceptable?" Yang said as she crossed her fingers. There was a long pause between them, the thinkers mind hopping around the offer. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, the tinker smiled, giving her a definitive nod.

"I'll show why I'm one of the best tinkers in all of Remnant, you can count on me!" He said with great enthusiasm, Yang winking and giving him a thumbs up before laying out the lien cards in front of him.

"Awesome! I can't wait!" Yang cheered, moving away and then finding Dahlia right behind her.

"Oh hey, look, I really am sorry about...I shouldn't have gotten worked up like that..." Yang said, stooping down to her level physically.

"It just startled me, I'm not afraid of you Yang. I will say that you look very lost, would you like my help getting you around to get what you need?" Dahlia offered to which Yang quickly agreed to. It was almost like a labyrinth that only Dahlia could easily navigate. One shop to the next, Yang acquired a plentiful amount of food, water, an industrial grade backpack, all kinds of things that you wouldn't expect from a small village such as this.

"Hey, could you tell me another story about the amazing team RWBY Yang?" Dahlia asked as she tugged at Yang's limp sleeve. However, for some reason Yang had tightened up, not even acknowledging her tug. Dahlia looked dead ahead and noticed an unfortunately familiar thing to Yang. Before her was a structure just like any other in the village, however, the banner for the White Fang spanned just over the door. Yang's fist immediately rolled into a stone cold fist, her teeth grinding as her eyes slowly began to see red.

"Um...Yang? Are you OK?" Dahlia stepping in front of her. Yang did a quick shake of her head, knowing that causing any trouble here was the worst thing she could do. Upon further inspection, she realized it wasn't the same one that Adam's did. This one was white on a blue background with no slash marks. She remembered Blake telling her about how she was a member of the White Fang before Adam took control.

"I'm okay Dahlia, sorry about that," she said, smiling down at Dahlia and rustling her hair gently. The two of them enjoyed the market, mostly just browsing around at the various goods. They shared a lot of laughter and joy as Dahlia showed her around like a tour guide. They first visited the rest of the market, then the fields where the farming was done, then up to her favorite point in the whole village. It was a hill on the east side that sat just high enough to see for miles and miles. Yang found herself and Dahlia taking a nap due to the comforting, warm breeze they caressed them ever so gently. When it came time to walk before the White Fang building, Dahlia made a brave pose like a little soldier facing it.

"And these are the White Fang. They have been helping our village here for many years. We share no discrimination for faunus here, in fact one of my best friends is one! They are super nice and really, REALLY good at taking out grimm. You should see them in action! Every night, they stand guard at the forest end of the camp and kill any grimm that even try to get close, they never stand a chance!" Dahlia cheered, Yang smiling with her hand upon her hip.

"I'm honestly impressed actually. You see...outside of this village they aren't exactly...nice. So this is a very welcome sight for me for a lot of reasons," Yang said, gently rubbing what she had of her other arm. Deep down, Yang didn't trust this White Fang anymore than any other she had met, but the people seem genuinely at peace with them around, which is something that Adam's White Fang would never, EVER, do. Uneasy as she was, she tried her best to keep it in the back of her mind for now. She would lay and wait for them to slip up and then she'll be right there, ready to try and take them down.

"I think we should head back, it's starting to get a little dark," Yang said, taking Dahlia by the hand and walking with her all the way back. As Dahlia walked in, Yang took in a long, deep breath, finally relaxing her body a little. She then sighed as she leaned up against the wall beside the door, now looking at the gliding sunset in the distance.

"This place is amazing...I wish I didn't have to go..." Yang said before pulling out a picture of her Team RWBY photo she had stashed in her coat. She smiled with a glimmer in her eye as she moved it up and planted her lips against it.

"But I have people to get to," Yang said with a smile, slipping back into her jacket before walking in. This will be the first good night's rest in days and she was ready for that more than anything else in her world for the moment.


End file.
